Research source

I asked the meaning of this bizarre and portentous conglomeration of letters. The reply was

Date of account: English edition published 1907
Source: Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants
Reference: Mysterious Psychic Forces An Account of the Author's Investigations in Psychical Research, Together with Those of Other European Savants · selected passage 175
Rights: public_domain
Language: English translation from French
Translation: English translation from Camille Flammarion
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Guillaume de Fontenay, with whom the experiments at Montfort-l'Amaury were made, in 1897, at the home of the Blech family, had come on purpose from the centre of France, with a great profusion of apparatus and of new processes, to try to get some photographs

Published source text

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Source passage

Source text · mention only

M. Guillaume de Fontenay, with whom the experiments at Montfort-l'Amaury were made, in 1897, at the home of the Blech family, had come on purpose from the centre of France, with a great profusion of apparatus and of new processes, to try to get some photographs. The medium appeared to be enchanted with them, and toward the middle of the soiree said to us, "You are going to have, this evening, something that you did not expect, something which has never been accomplished by any other medium, and which can be photographed as an unimpeachable record." She then explains to us that I am to lift my hand up, while firmly holding hers by the wrist; that M.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This comes from historical psychical research. Methods, witness handling and standards of evidence differ from present-day research and should be assessed from the cited passage and edition.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

The passage can support a history of claims and recurring descriptions. It does not establish a paranormal mechanism, and competing psychological, social and physical explanations remain relevant.

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